Serenity
by Marius Khushrenada
Summary: This runs after to Gundam Seed and Seed Destiny, as a hypothetical sequel for Destiny. It takes place 3 years after destiny, and the face of the world has drastically changed. Sai, Meyrin and Athrun are the biggest Seed Chars, but Athrun enters late.
1. Chapter 1

**MSGS: Serenity**

_Legal Disclaimer- Gundam Seed, Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Seed Destiny, Zeta Gundam, and any other Gundam material that I may inadvertently use are the property of Sunrise, not myself._

_Prologue- _**Rena Arrias **

With practiced ease she bypassed the electronic lock closing the airlock on the warship Amuro Ray, a ghost of a smile crossing her picturesque face, as she considered the complexity of the cruiser that she herself had helped to design. Seconds passed, and a soft whirring filled the room as the airlock safeties disengaged. She punched a few keys on the keypad that she was using to access the Amuro's mainframe, disengaging the atmospheric monitors, pressure sensors, and security protocols for this section. She glanced nervously over her shoulder, almost expecting to see the scowling face of her elder brother leering from behind her, demanding why she was once again 'sneaking out'. Last time she had been caught, and had been suffered severely for her disobedience. Logic overruled her irrational fear however, as she considered the crew compliment on the mercenary cruiser. There were perhaps 30 people, on a warship that was over 350 meters in length. 354.45 she thought, smiling smugly to herself, and slipped out the airlock into the neutral resource colony that they were docked at, Ankaris 2, another of the recently constructed colonies created by the Coalition of Independent States, a economic and political movement, headed by Orb, the Earth Sphere's leading military power. The coalition was an alliance of The Orb Union, The Equatorial Union, The Eurasian Federation, Scandinavia, and Imperial South Africa. She shook her head, her light pink hair cascading across her shoulders, and her obscuring her vision. She irritably brushed it out of her eyes, and pressed forward, determined to experience life out of a hospital bed. A sigh crossed her lips, as she thought back to what had transpired three years ago…

The EAF and ZAFT had been engaged in a stalemated war. Chairman Dullindal, of PLANT, managed to find an opening, uniting the people of the world, under a flag that promised peace. The LOGOS, industrialist who fueled the hatred of humans for their own profit, were destroyed, though not before they could employ Requiem, which destroyed six colonies. It finally looked like humanity could put down the swords that had locked them in a spiral of destruction for countless centuries. Yet it was not to be, as Cagalli Ula Atha, of Orb, one of the last nations to oppose the plan, raised an army and crushed the 'dangerous and extremist' Chairman Dullindal. Yet for over two years it seemed like sanity had prevailed, and Dullindal's legacy was glorious. Yet 6 months ago the pacifist state of the world ceased to exist. Military research, which had virtually ceased, was renewed, arsenals were rebuilt, armies were conscripted, and many nations struggled to regain what they once had.

The EAF and ZAFT were devastated by their internecine warfare, and found themselves on the decline. The EAF split into 3 camps, those who saw promise in Orb and the Atha Family, those who believed in pursuing the goals of the Blue Cosmos, and those who believed in a stance of firm neutrality. Orb, and its new supporters formed the Coalition of Independent States. The radical EAF members, based in North America, formed ASOH, the Allied States of Humanity, a radically racist group with open policies of coordinator discrimination. Many Ex EAF soldiers and generals gravitated to this group, which is controlled by Delia Azrael, sole heir of the Azrael family, and financially backed by the Meira Vermilea, now owner of Seraph industries after her father and brother were killed during the mob justice that occureed three years ago. The Germanic federation sprung up in Europe, with only the Nations of Britannia and Iberia siding with the ASOH. They Germanic Federation, and its citizens found themselves weary of the never-ending war, and dropped their discriminatory policies in an effort to have coordinators , and their superior abilities, bolster their sagging economy, an effort that has worked surpassingly well. Marcus Welles, a Danish aristocrat whom recently gained popular favor heads up this organization.

ZAFT, once a bastion of Military strength, also split into three. ZAFT itself, now consisting of about ¼ of the space colonies, is nearly militarily and strategically unimportant, a relic struggling to regain lost glory. Mirriele Hamana, a military dictator controls ZAFT and its subject people. Independent Plant is a pacifist state, which is headed by Lacus Clyne, the daughter of Siegel Clyne, and refuses to participate the unprecedented military build-up of the last 6 months. Again nearly one quarter of the Colonial populations counted their allegiances to this organization. ZETA, The Zodiac Extended Treaty Alliance, consisting of half the coordinator population, as well as the nation of Oceania has begun a radical policy of ensuring their supremacy, moving their colonies out to the newly discovered 7th Lagrange point, at the stable point between Mars and Earth, and distancing themselves, emotionally, politically and physically from the Earth Sphrere. The new colony complex is not yet self sufficient however, and relies heavily on their terrestrial allies for supplies. Yzak Jule is their chairman. The world seems poised for collision as the five superpowers build their 'defensive' arsenals, and embark on a well worn and hauntingly familiar path.

_The first paragraph is too give an example of my style, and the background below is to try coax people into reading, This is my first fan fiction, hope you like. If all goes according to plan, and I have some support, this will run 50 additional chapters, all much longer than the prolouge. Reviews Please._

_Forgive my grammar, I don't have an editor._


	2. Chapter 2: Twilight

_Legal Disclaimer- Gundam Seed, Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Seed Destiny, Zeta Gundam, and any other Gundam material that I may inadvertently use are the property of Sunrise, not myself. (Wow, that is wordy. I need some way to abbreviate.)_

Chapter 1- Twilight

"Kei, lets get out of here," an extraordinarily handsome young man of perhaps twenty drawled, disturbing the entire class. "Who is possibly ever going to use something like this?" Kei through a look of undiluted hatred at his annoying friend. His answer wasn't verbal, instead he stood up, picked the annoying freshman up by the scruff of the neck, and stormed out the door, then dumping him unceremoniously on the steps.

"Class is done in an hour. I'll see you then. How can you possibly hope to pass this class?" Kei replied, attempting in vain to stifle a laugh seeing Santino sprawled on the ground, his impeccably groomed hair hopelessly out of order, his clothes wrinkled beyond reprieve. It was now Santino's turn to look hostile, and he threw himself at the lanky Kei, hoping that surprise would enable him to overpower his stronger friend, who was highly trained in martial arts. Kei smoothly sidestepped, he had anticipated the move from a long way off, and laughed manically as Santino smashed into a trash can, spewing it contents onto the ground... and all over Santino. Kei couldn't stop laughing, even as Santino launched himself at him again, this time knocking the hysterical coordinator off his feet. Then Santino looked at himself, grinned ruefully, and started chuckling himself. Before he knew it, he was laughing uncontrollably as well, and the two had drawn a sizable crowd, some whom laughed bemusedly, others who scoffed, everyone looking at two nearly grown men acting like little children. It was something that they were famous for, though a reputation for immaturity was not necessarily a good thing...

Neither one made it back to class. Neither particularly cared, as Santino now needed to get one hundred and eighty nine percent on the final just to pass advanced computing, while Kei was actually at one hundred and eighty nine percent, as he had done all the extra credit assignments, and had never made mistakes. He was incredibly skilled with computers, able to accomplish almost any task set before him in a fraction of time it took others. Santino, on the other hand, was what was known as a permanent students. The twenty year old had been in school for three years, and had yet to pick a major, which suited him just fine. He enjoyed school immensely, the atmosphere, the people, and especially the girls. Santino had a reputation as a ladies man, one which he was loath to disappoint. Kei on the other hand, also twenty, saw school as merely a challenge to overcome, one which he was determined to surpass as quickly as possible. He was also twenty, and in three short years had nearly completed his doctorate in computer software design, application and integration. His prodigious skill was not, as some of his detractors implied, sometimes not so subtly, because his genes had been altered, but because he worked extremely hard. His mother, a coordinator as well, had married a petty Canadian bureaucrat twenty years ago. He and her had agreed to have their child turned into a coordinator. Then the policies of the Atlantic Federation had underwent yet another radical changed, becoming more vehemently anti-coordinator. The bureaucrat, Mizuchi Starana, had left his pregnant wife for a more natural girl, leaving her destitute. She had emigrated to PLANT, where she became her skills a nuclear physicist had allowed her to get a high paying job. Santino, on the other hand, came from an old money family in Orb, industrialists all, and had a very easy time with things. He had all the money he wanted, and though his family had to go into hiding three years ago, he eventually intended to enter into the family business, and hardly needed a degree. As the eldest son he merely needed to bide his time until his elderly father kicked it, because as the first son in the patriarchal dictatorship his oft absent father ran, his right of inheritance was secure. The two of them were nearly negatives of each other, with Santino being sophisticated and charismatic, whereas Kei was awkward and socially inept. Santino was physically quite weak, plagued by familial allergies and asthma, whereas Kei was strong and fit, and a double black belt in Tae Kwon Do. To an observer the two would seem never to get along, yet they had gravitated to each other, and were the greatest of friends. They had plans to go a fraternity party after class, which started and ended late, and Santino's patience was shot.

They arrived at the party, and to Santino's chagrin, and Kei's secretly jealous bemusement, found one Meyrin Hawke in attendance. After her and Santino's break-up, their exchanges had become increasingly abusive, with shrill insults being exchanged, the two had nearly come to blows several times, an exchange that would have been a disaster for Santino. Like predicted Meyrin made her way towards the duo. She had come to live on this colony after she had defected from ZAFT, a pardon had never been issued, and she was still technically a wanted criminal in the small amount of territory ZAFT now controlled.

"Kei, you're looking well," Meyrin politely said, pointedly ignoring Santino.

"Looks like we're going to be mature about this!" Santino's jibe came out with more ferocity then he had intended, and she looked shocked at the hostility in his voice. A startled, and a hurt looked crossed her young face, and she stormed off, tear lining her cheeks. Santino couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt, and at the same time was confused, as she had broken up with him. Kei merely stood by, choosing to let his friend puzzle things out for himself, while he for once knew exactly why she had dumped Kei, and unfortunately couldn't tell anyone, as she had told him under the strictest of confidences that she was 'in love with someone else.' Kei grabbed a drink from the counter, merely a soda, as alcohol was wasted on a coordinators stamina. Santino approached him from behind, and spoke, "This is lame, lets hit Alpha, they've gotta have better entertainment than thi..." He trailed off, as he saw a gorgeous girl standing off across the room, by herself, looking slightly faint. She was petite, with long soft pink hair, and wearing a short skirt to emphasize her figure. He face was radiant, with a tiny bow for a mouth beautifully expressive grey eyes, and alabaster skin. Even at a distance he was struck by how pale she was. Like a wolf he stealthily slipped up on his prey, and was startled when she stumbled, and he had to rush forward, abandoning his slow confident walk, and managed to catch her before she hit the floor. "Gotta be careful, those drinks are awful big."  
She looked up at him, her eyes glimmering in the light, and replied with a wistful grin, her tone carefully composed, "I'm not drunk, I just need a little air." Like a true gentleman, Santino extended his arm, and she gently rested her hand on it, and he led her out to the balcony. Santino threw a glance and a triumphant grin over his shoulder at Kei, who's returning smile was slightly strained. The girl across the room had caught his eye as well, and he had been attempting to gather the confidence necessary to talk to her when Santino had swooped in Hawkelike... hawk-like, and stripped Kei of his chance.

"How's this?" Santino asked, a little surprised, and possibly disappointed when her weakness had indeed disappeared once she had gotten out of the wilting heat of the frat house.

She smiled at him, and spoke, surprising him with her boldness, "Its very much better..." she made a motion with her hand that obviously implied that he should supply his name, which he did. "I'm Rena." She replied more out of courtesy then anything. For the next several minutes the two exchanged amenities, though she continuously evaded answering where she was from. Then, running by some unseen clock, Santino decided to move this exchange to a more isolated location.

"Well this is winding down," he said, looking at the still packed house, "perhaps you'd like to hit a show?"

"That'd be great, " She responded, to his surprise and delight. She pulled out her cell phone, and checked the time. "Though I do need to be home in three hours and twenty-one minutes."

"Hey do you have a friend in their?" Santino asked, a small amount of guilt playing across his features as he thought of how he was abandoning his friend once again. "You see that tall guy over by the bar? He's a friend of mine, and I don't wanna leave him alone."

"Lets go talk to him," Rena replied, a slightly amused look playing across her face. The two made their way back through the crowd, and found themselves at Kei's side. He was sitting at the bar, a thoroughly bored look splayed across his face, one that said clear as day "I do not want to be here." Rena looked at him, and immediately blurted out, "I heard that you were alone here, do you want to go to the movie?" Kei looked stunned.

He turned around, and without hesitation replied "Sure! I would love to go to the movie with you. My name's Kei, by the way."

She smiled but at him, not an indulgent smile, but a genuine grin, and spoke in a very bright tone of voice, "My name's Rena." As the two had been speaking, the smile on Santino's face had vanished, to be replaced by a look of shock. _Had she just asked both of them out? _She continued, "The three of us are going to have the best of time!"

The joyous expression that was on Kei's face suddenly echoed that of Santino. Nerveless, this was the closest he had come to a date in a very long time, and he was determined to see it through. By sheer force of will he managed to reply without strain or doubt showing in his voice, "What are we going to?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen a movie in forever. This is going to be great!" She said, speaking very fast. She seemed far to excited about something so simple, heightened patches of colour were showing on her cheeks, and she was breathing a little too fast for comfort. She seemed genuinely excited, like she hadn't done anything like this in a very long time. "How close is the theatre?" She added to her rapid-fire line of questions and statements.

Kei, realizing that Santino was too baffled by what was going on moved in smoothly insinuating himself between his friend and Rena. "Allow me to lead the way." Kei said. Santino, realizing his predicament as she started walking at an accelerated pace, practically dragging Kei, who was so much taller than her slight frame that it was almost comical. He almost had to run to catch up.

They had gone no more than four or five blocks when they heard a voice yell out from the distance "Rena!" She jumped when she heard it, spun around, and started walking into a nearby conveniences store. The two baffled men followed her. "What was that?" Santino asked, "Why are you so scared?" She looked at them, with what little colour that was in her face drained completely.

"I'm going to have to leave soon," She said, her normally cheery voice taking on a weary edge. "Can I get you guys numbers?" She begged, a slight catch in her voice. Santino, ever the opportunist, grinned and pointedly reached into his pocket, taking out a pen and a piece of paper, which he reserved explicitly for this purpose.

"Sure, beautiful," he said, and grinned inwardly as she blushed graciously, "on the condition that you hand over yours first." She smiled at him, seeming shy for the first time tonight, and produced a gum wrapper from her pocket, and, snatching the pen from his hand, tore the gum wrapper in half, wrote something, presumably her number, down on both halves of the paper, folded the halves, and handed one to each of the boys. Kei then, after buying a pack of gum for the sole purpose of having a receipt to write on, gave her his number, and Santino, signing his with a flourish, did the same. She kept glancing nervously at the door, and sure enough when a tall handsome blood man, strongly built standing nearly 6'1 entered she started for the washrooms.

"Rena!" He said, with a very slight edge on what would have otherwise have been a very pleasant voice, "Where have you been, your brother is worried sick about you! And more importantly he made _me_ go out and look for you."

"I went out to have some fun, Kyle. Just because you don't ever need to get off the dingy little ship of ours, doesn't mean the rest of us don't."

"Look you're not well enough to be out and about on your own. Its just that-"

"That you're all worried about me. I'm doing just fine, aren't I" Rena voice, which at first had sounded slightly only slightly exasperated, now was climbing into the upper octaves as she got worked up.

"Come on Rena, you're going home. Captain's orders." Kyle walked over, and grabbed her wrist, not hard enough to hurt her, but with enough force to clearly signal that the conversation was over. Santino just stared, trying hard not to be afraid of the big blonde man. Kei on the other hand, strode forward.

"Let her go." He said, using the most menacing tone of voice he could muster. Kyle however didn't look scared at all. Either he had mastered the ability to fake an expression of boredom or disdain, or he truly wasn't scared even slightly.

"Look, Boy. You don't know what's going on, or" he said, giving Rena a pointed glance, what your getting into. Why don't you just leave adult matters to adults, and go home to you mommy." A ugly look crossed Kei's face, and he threw a powerful punch, backed with years of training and stifled rage into Kyle's gut, knocking him to the ground. Instead of just lying there, like most mortals would have, Kyle gamely struggled to his feet, and produced a heavy calibre pistol from inside his black leather jacket. He pointed it at Kei, who immediately put his hands up. Santino threw his hands to the sky, and the clerk dived behind the counter. Kyle grabbed Rena again, and took off out the door, dragging her along behind him. The clerk reappeared holding a handgun. Kei and Santino slipped out the door, before the clerk started asking questions... or shooting.

"What the hell happened there?" Santino asked no one in particular, scratching his head bemusedly.

_This chapter is dedicated to Mystical Dreamz, my first reviewer. Keep on reading and reviewing. _


	3. Chapter 3: Tragic Reverberations

**You know what, I do own Gundam. All of it. Really. You don't believe me. Fine. I'm lying. Now I'm sad. **

_Legal Disclaimer- Gundam Seed, Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Seed Destiny, Zeta Gundam, and any other Gundam material that I may inadvertently use are the property of Sunrise, not myself._

After the shocking confrontation in the convenience store, Kei and Santino stood, stunned, outside in the alley. A light rain had started while they were inside. Kei spoke, desperate to break the silence, "It isn't scheduled to rain today, is it?" Santino looked up, the small droplets obviously irritating him.

"No. It isn't."

"Perhaps they're doing maintenance on the computers, and are having difficulties?" Kei hypothesized, not really sure, trying to puzzle out the disturbing phenomena himself. On Earth, a light rain on a beautiful night would be considered unfortunate, or frustrating. Here it was cause for alarm. As he thought to himself, thinking carefully of the safeguards on the system that he had examined before, he concluded that this would almost have had to have been deliberate. The storm, seemingly benign at first turned sinister as the it intensified, hail pelting the ground. Kei, raised in the colonies since a very young age had never seen hail before, had no idea how to react, especially since it wasn't programmed into the central management system. "Something is very wrong. We should get home, fast," Kei spoke, his voice barely audible over the wind and rain, worry still evident on his voice. "Come on!" Santino followed his friend, who had broke into a jog. A flash illuminated the sky, further confusing Kei. _Lightning? Lightning in a colony. What in God's name is going on here? _

Santino spoke, clearly distressed, though his words were lost in the rain. Another flash cast its shadows across the artificial dome that served as there sky, and for a second Kei thought he had seen… seen what? Santino, yelling at the top of his breath, caught Kei's attention, "SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE! I CAN FEEL IT." Kei looked back at him, and nodded, his affirmation calming his distressed friend slightly. They had finally reached an open store, and both went inside. The owner was conspicuously absent. A viewer, across from the checkout counter, flashed an emergency message over and over again, its harsh red tone casting a sinister relief across the room. "All colony residents are to evacuate to the escape pods. The colony integrity has been compromised. Repeat, all colony residents are to…"

A scowl crossed Kei's face as he thought of venturing outside. Kei's thoughts had taken a more morbid tone, _What if this colony is under attack. _Fears spawned by the recent global conflict left Kei feeling slightly ill. His worst fears were confirmed when he heard a massive explosion, its message of pain and death ringing throughout the colony. A piece of shrapnel, presumably from the explosion above smashed the roof of the building that they had taken refuge in with tremendous force, sending concrete hurtling down towards them. With lightning speed, Kei ran, grabbed his friend, and tossed him to the ground, near the door. After the roof had stopped collapsing the two bolted into the night. To Kei's chagrin, the remnants of one the CIS's mainstay mobile suits, a GATX 105 Strike was lying on top of the decimated building. Above flashes of fire illuminated the sky, and another MS plummeted to the ground, destroying an apartment building. "This way!" Kei screamed, pointing towards an industrial complex. He started to run towards the reinforced building, Santino lagging behind him. With abrupt force an explosion from behind Kei threw him to the several meters, and he landed heavily. He looked at the smouldering fire behind him, and to his shock there was no sign of Santino. With heavy heart he continued his desperate run for the industrial facilities.

The facilities door was unlocked, sounding alarms in Kei's mind. He slipped in, only to discover the bodies of three murdered security guards, blood and bullet holes splayed all around the room. With a start he realized that the dead men were wearing Coalition military uniforms, not those of the Internal Security Forces. He was about to turn around, when another explosion from behind him changed his mind. Seeing a computer terminal located at what was presumably a secretaries desk, he rushed over and accessed the mainframe with ease, the amateurish security systems on the computer proving no match for his prowess. He downloaded a blueprint for the factory, and fortunately discovered that an escape pod was located on the western most edge. Grabbing a gun off one of the corpses, the scent of the blood thick enough in the air to cause him to wretch, he proceeded deeper into the labyrinthine factory. Accessing his blueprint, he discovered that the pod was on the far side of… a hangar? He entered the hangar, to discover an ongoing massacre. Nearly two dozen people lay dead on the ground, and six men, wearing ZAFT commando uniforms were shooting from cover at a group of nearly thrity more CIS soldier who were exposed on open ground. The ground was littered with blood and body parts. Three MS, clearly visible from his angle stood motionless, surveying the battle with a sort of crude satisfaction. Rage welled up in Kei's heart, as he realized that the CIS, had, once again, in violation of the Night of Tears Treaty,been manufacturing weapons in civilian districts. He threw himself behind a damaged crane, narrowly dodging a volley of bullets from one of the ZAFT soldiers. The Coalition's soldiers continued to drop like so much ripe wheat, there blood littering the ground and staining the feet of the MS they were trying so desperately to protect. With an agility borne of desperation Kei ran, threw himself upwards, and swung on the damaged pilot access wire to the cockpit of one of the MS, with the intention of using its weaponry to help the beleaguered defenders. He easily accessed the cockpit, it wasn't even locked, and threw himself in. Familiarizing himself with the system as well as he was able, he started to try and start the machine. Before he was successful, the last CIS soldier spilled his blood on the floor. The Coordinator soldiers immediately started to move, one of them firing a spray across the ground where the CIS soldiers bodies were huddled, sending flesh and bone splattering across the ground. The others started to move for the cockpits of the MS. Kei hastily locked the cockpit he was in, but to his horror the man in the white mask who was leading the attack seemed to know exactly where he was. No pilot attempted to enter his unit. He finally managed to start up his unit, and with a vengeance pulled the 2nd triggers on both of his joysticks. A volley of missiles rocketed out of his suit's shoulder and wing mounted lauchers, incinerating all the ZAFT commandos except the two that had already made their way into the MS's cockpits. The two survivors were the masked man, and a young woman with vividly blonde hair. He started to panic as the TransPhase Shift armour of the other two suits came online.

With this development he had a chance to better examine the suits. One was a deep crimson in colour, bearing a dark resemblance to the ZAFT MS Providence, with the exception that it had two arm mounted shields, each with both a laser rifle and plasma claw built in, and a chest mounted buster cannon. The other was thinner, with an enormous shields covering each of its arm, extending from below the hand to well above the shoulder. On the shoulder were a pair of mounted high energy rail cannons, and the shields were obviously equipped with beam sabres. A beam rifle was attached to each of the suits hips, and the head was equipped with Vulcan's below the chin and above the forehead. Panicking, he hit the boosters on his newly acquired MS, rocketing through the roof of the factory. The other two suits did not pursue, but he had found himself in yet another battle.

There were five MS battling inside the colony, 4 GoUF, and two remaining Strike. The Strike peeled off, obviously intending to take cover in the nearby residential districts, while three of the GoUF gave chase. The remaining one opened a comn to him. As the incoming line opened, he was startled to see that the woman confronting him was a young girl with pale green hair, a softly chiselled face and piercing cobalt eyes. She looked no more like a soldier then him. Never the less he knew enough about ZAFT to realize that the red Elite's uniform she wore meant that this had instantly become deadly serious. "This is Lieutenant Shila Amafi, contacting unconfirmed MS. Broadcast IFF, or be classified as hostile. Kei had no idea what to do. She waited for five seconds, matching him move for move as he tried desperately to evade her, then she opened fire with the high energy particle machine cannon on her suits arm, a veritable rain of energy screaming needle-like towards him. He closed his eyes and prepared to die. The blasts ricocheted off his armour, knocking him off course, and causing the green schematic of his suit in the top left of the cockpit to change to yellow in several place, except for in the shoulders which turned black. The missile launchers! The only weapon he knew how to use! She jetted forward, drawing her sabre, and ferally slashed at him, simultaneously screaming into the comn, "FOR ZAFT!"

"Leave me alone!" Kei shouted back, trying and failing to put as much feeling into his voice as she had, and started pressing as many buttons on his joystick as he could at once. The beam rifle his suit was holding shock off in a completely random direction, obliterating the convenience store that he had once sought refuge in; the Vulcans on his head striking her suit's camera; and the shotgun like particle cannon mounted on his other arm taking the GoUF from the torso down. She screamed desperately into the intercom, and the remaining pieces of her suit plummeted towards the ground. The other two prototypes took this opportunity to join the fray., the suit with the DRAGOON backpack catching the plummeting GoUF, and the other suit firing its beam rifles at Kei, who jetted up to evade them. Finally figuring out the controls he swung up his rifle and fired, and to his surprise hit the enemy MS straight in the cockpit. He winced as he saw an explosion, and the severed and burned arm of the woman he had just killed being propelled heavenward. The remaining three GoUF were now approaching him, so he kicked his boosters into overdrive, jetting out of the colony through the breach that the ZAFT had came in.

Escaping the battle wasn't that simple. An orb Kusanagi class battle cruiser was being mercilessly battered by three ZAFT Nazca class warhips, while another Nazca was engaged with a ship of indeterminate model at a distance. The ZAFT GoUF mobile suits were swarming the Kusanagi, battering its defences, but where were the Strikes? The Kusanagi carried a complement of fifteen MS, and six Skygrasper support vehicles. There was only one orb unit on the radar, wait no, two, the other at extreme distance. _What was going on here?_ The unidentified cruiser fired a volley of energy, destroying the Nazca opposing it He also detected the launch of several units from the unidentified, most streaking in his direction. Two units, one mobile armour, and a the other a GuAIZ entered the colony, while one of the units, a MS Kei didn't recognize jetted towards the Kusangi at tremendous speed, vivisecting a GoUF with a vast, two handed plasma blade on its way. The final MS, a Germanic Federation Crusader, flew straight towards him. _The Crusader is based off of Raider, an EAF prototype, equipped for high speed melee combat. _The suit gave no warning, and discharged its short-range cannons immediately upon getting close to Kei, who panicked and jammed a switch on his console, not knowing what it would do. The blast struck his suit, disabling Kei's verniers, while his own suit merely displayed a message on his console, 'Confirm nuclear launch sequence.' He stared at it in disbelief. _Was_ _this thing was equipped with nuclear weapons! _The enemy suit, sensing its opponents weakness pressed home, using its hammer to crush the camera of Kei's MS's head. Kei tried to open a comn line, but found he didn't know how. He couldn't even surrender! He once again fired his laser rifle, but this pilot skilfully evaded the blast, and swung in for another pass, smashing the joints on Kei's left arm. Kei fired his spread rifle, yet the pilot dodged that too, and spun around for another pass, discharging a blast of plasma into the damaged MS's back. Kei could only stare in horror as his cockpit started to fill with smoke, his controls unresponsive, the enemy MS moving in for the kill…

"This way!" Kei screamed, pointing towards an industrial complex. He started to run towards the reinforced building, Santino lagging behind him. A sudden burst of insight intruded in Santino's consciousness, and he threw himself backwards to the ground, covering his head and neck with his hands, seconds before the shockwave of a massive explosion propelled him backwards, flames engulfing the spot where he had just stood. Santino couldn't see Kei through the raging inferno, and he made his way back through the commercial district, hoping to find shelter there. Tears welled up in Santino's eyes, "Stupid Kei! How dare you get yourself killed!" He staggered through the blinding hail, and within ten minutes was within the residential section, where he spotted a shelter entrance. Another explosion filled the sky, and pieces of scrap metal rained down on the residential district. The illuminating flashes of weapon fire showed three GoUF fighting two Strike. The Strike were in fast retreat, coming right towards him and bring the GoUF with him. He pounded wildly on the shelter entrance, "LET ME IN! PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!"

The speaker beside him responded. "I can't do that. There's no room."

"Please I'm going to die out here!"

"Sorry no exceptions. Why aren't you already in a shelter, there was plenty of warning?"

"I, I didn't see the message. That's no reason for me to die is it?"

"Sorry, rules are rules. For the safety of the other occupants I cannot permit this shelter to be…"  
Santino smashed the comm. line in rage, silencing the callous official. The explosion were getting ever closer, and as he looked a massively bright flash illuminated the sky. Santino took off at a run, another burst of insight saving him from the misaimed Vulcan fire of the remaining Strike, forcing him to take cover behind a dumpster. He felt the vibration of his cell phone, and habit compelled him to answer it before he thought of the situation he was in.

Rena's melodic voice chirped across the line, "Are you okay Santino?"

"No, I'm not okay, I'm far from okay! I'm going to die out here, there no more shelters, and they won't take me in. I'm far to young to die! Help me, Rena, you've got to-"

"Calm down Santino. Look I know someone that can help you. Where are you?"

"Wait what are you talking about? How can you know someone who can help me through this!"

"Just trust me. Where are you?"

"Corner of 4th and Hampshire. Rena what is going on here?" Santino asked, doubt clearly evident in his voice.

"Just trust me. Stay put. Someone will be there to pick you up soon, alright." With that she signed off, leaving Santino cowering behind a dumpster, alone. To his amazement within several minutes a mobile armour landed in the alley. It was coloured a bright orange, with a host of variable weaponry tacked on, but as far as Santino could see it was just an antique Moebius. The cockpit opened up, and the blonde haired man who had confronted them earlier yelled to Santino "Get in!" Not willing to question his salvation, Santino climbed in, wedging himself in behind the seat in the cramped cockpit. The pilot expertly launched the unit into the sky again, and started making his way towards the industrial district.

"What the hell is going on!" Santino demanded, "How do you know Rena, and how do you have a mobile armour, and what is going on out here."

"Look kid, I'll answer these when we're safe, but we're not out of the woods yet. With that Kyle kicked the after burner on the Moebius, narrowly evading fire from an incoming GoUF. He threw the MA into a loop, causing Santino's stomach to heave unpleasantly, and fired all three of the customized MA's magnetic rail guns, connecting solidly with the GoUF and sending it careening into a large house. The remaining two GoUF circled warily, obviously intending to use their manoeuvrability to corner the snub fighter. Kyle grinned as an extensional arrestor, the multipurpose weapon of ZAFT's old GuAIZ model smashed through the cockpit of GoUF flying towards Kyle. Santino screamed as Kyle dropped all power from the MA's thrusters and plummeted towards the ground, again narrowly dodging a hail of streaking energy bolts. Reactivating his thrusters, Kyle also opened a comn to the nearby GuAIZ. "Jace, it took you long enough to get here."

Jace replied laconically, "Perhaps if you had just waited for the rest of us I wouldn't have to bail you out again, mate." The remaining GoUF started to retreat, but Kyle launched a volley of missiles, catching the enemy MS just above the reactor, and causing it to explode into a ball of fire. "I think we missed the boat. Looks like those birds have already found their wings." Jace said, his thick Australian accent coming clear through the intercom.

"We saw one of them on the way in. Betcha Vanessa has it taken care of already." Kyle said. Santino stared in disbelief. First this guy had gone into combat with him crammed in the cockpit, now he was talking about more?

"Whoa. Whoa! WHOA! Santino yelled, worry showing in his voice. "Perhaps you should put me down first, you know, before you start shooting things again!"

Kyle merely grinned at the horrified college student, and, patting Santino on the shoulder said, "Non-stop trip." The expression on Santino's face was priceless, a mixture of shock, self-pity and fear. The Moebius once again accelerated under Kyle's expert touch, going out through a hole in the colony. Two ZAFT Nazca cruiser, and nearly seven GoUF were engaging one MS in combat, which seemed to have no problem evading their desperate attacks. The Moebius, chose not to engage itself in the pitched battle, instead veered for the cruiser that was not engaging in combat. It was instead watching the unfolding battle intently . Kyle's Moebius, closely followed by Jace's GuAIZ, docked with the waiting crusier, which fired off signal flares the instant the two units were inside. The unidentified MS outside destroyed the last of the GoUF, and engaged its massive deutronium powered thrusters, the exhaust from the engines giving it the illusion of having gigantic wings, and in an instant was docked safely aboard the cruiser that Santino had found himself on. The cockpit of the Moebius opened, and Santino jumped up, extremely grateful to be out of the dank hole that he thought that he would die in. His eye was immediately drawn to the MS across the hangar. It was scorched and burned with numerous pieces seeming to have been blown off. Though it looked like it might still be hot from the impact, crews were already looking over it, inspecting the damage and planning what they would fix first.

Kyle placed an arm on Santino's arm, and firmly led him across the hangar. Kyle's unkempt hair obscured his eyes, and Santino couldn't help but feel a little terrified of what was going to happen to him. Kyle led him to a small room, sat him down, and told him to wait. Nearly ten minutes passed before the door started to open. Kei, escorted by the diminutive Rena, entered. She didn't look nearly the same as before. Her hair pulled back in a pair of pig tails, and she was wearing a black jacket with a short, elongated cross with jagged ends prominently visible on the lapel. She was wearing a short skirt just like before. In fact, it was the same colour and fabric as before, and its colour complimented the military style jacket and formal shoes she was wearing, giving her a vaguely military appearance. Kei ran over and gripped his friend in a fearsome hug, one which Santino immediately tried to break. "Come on man, what are you doing!" Santino whispered awkwardly, and attempted to pry Kei off of him.

Kei looked at Santino, very seriously, and said " I thought you were dead."

_Chapter 2 done. Chapter three's on the way. Keep on reading. That went a little longer than I thought it would. This is looking like it might get out of hand, lengthwise. I intend to put up two chapters a week, so check back often. Meyrin shows up again next chapter, so keep on reading and reviewing. I apologize in advance for the distinct resemblance it bears to Gundam Seeds beginning. Bear with me, things change quick._


End file.
